This invention relates to a process for treating starch to remove a cereal or root taste therefrom and to the starch so prepared. This invention is also directed to a foodstuff containing a starch of improved flavor.
Tapioca starches are known for their bland taste in foodstuffs and are thus desirable in providing thickening properties and other modifications to the food system without adversely affecting the flavor thereof. However, the availability of tapioca starch for future use is somewhat uncertain and its costs are escalating dramatically. Thus, it would be desirable to employ other starches having the taste characteristics as well as the thickening power and other properties of tapioca starch.
Most other starches, however, impart to foods a characteristic cereal or root taste, often with a masking effect, which is palatably undesirable. To counter this off-taste in the past, the industry has employed various flavor additives, but often these do not overcome the unappealing cereal or root taste pervasive in the foodstuff.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a process for treating starch to remove a cereal or root taste therefrom such that the starch imparts a blander taste to foodstuffs without adversely affecting the other properties of the foodstuff such as texture, mouthfeel and sheen.
It is another object to provide, in a preferred embodiment, a waxy maize starch having a bland taste similar to that of tapioca starch when employed as a substitute therefor in foodstuffs.